Royal | News - Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
Nearly two years after Prince Harry’s explosive memoir, Spare, hit the bookshelves, causing a global stir with its shocking revelations about the Royal family, the bestseller has finally been released in paperback.
On October 22, the Duke of Sussex’s memoir was officially launched as a paperback in the United States, where he now resides, with the UK edition set to follow on October 24.
Despite the second printing, Penguin Random House confirmed that “the content of the book remains unchanged”, including the heartfelt dedication to his loved ones that prefaces the book.
“For Meg and Archie and Lili…and of course, my mother,” wrote Prince Harry in the dedication of Spare, first published in January 2023.
The tribute honours his wife Meghan Markle, their children Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, and includes a touching reference to his late mother, Princess Diana, who tragically died in a Paris car crash in 1997.
The book’s epigraph – the quote that opens the book – is also particularly poignant, opening with a moving line from Requiem for a Nun by William Faulkner: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
The decision to refrain from adding new chapters to Prince Harry’s memoir in its paperback release could signal a move towards mending fences with his Royal relatives, who were less than pleased with the book’s initial revelations.
The original edition included explosive allegations such as Prince William knocking Harry down, William and Kate influencing Harry’s infamous Nazi costume, Camilla being labelled a “wicked stepmother”, and accusations of her leaking stories about Harry to the press.
These bombshells undoubtedly exacerbated tensions within the monarchy. However, by choosing not to stoke the flames with additional content, this could be interpreted as an extended olive branch, particularly during a year marred by health concerns for King Charles, Princess Kate, and Sarah Ferguson, all of whom have faced cancer battles, reports The Mirror.
After hitting the shelves on January 10, 2023, the explosive memoir sold a staggering six million copies globally, earning a spot in the record books as the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time, as per Guinness World Records, with over six million copies sold worldwide.
The book provides an unflinching and often emotional look at Harry’s life growing up as a royal, tackling numerous pivotal moments head-on – with its title referencing the age-old phrase “the heir and the spare”, a nod to his experience living in the shadow of his older brother.